The present invention relates to an attachment means for attaching a conductor to a hearing aid, as well as to a hearing aid housing for a BTE hearing aid and an attachment means for attaching a sound conductor.
Behind The Ear hearing aids, or BTE hearing aids for short, normally comprise a housing containing all necessary electronics of the hearing aid including input and output transducers. The output transducer is located in connection with a sound output port in the housing, from which the sound is output to the ear of the user via a sound tube. It should be noted that the output transducer need not be located in immediate connection with the sound output port, but may be located at any appropriate location within the hearing aid housing, the sound being in that case conducted to the output port via an intermediate tube or the like.
The sound tube is often attached indirectly to the hearing aid housing via a replaceable intermediate piece referred to as a hook. Alternatively, the tube may be connected directly to a connecting piece forming part of the hearing aid housing. EP-A-1443802 describes both these alternatives. In EP-A-1443802 the connecting piece to which the sound tube is attached, comprises a thread on which a compression member may be screwed in order to secure the sound tube with respect to the hearing aid housing. Since both the sound tube and the hook, as the case may be, play a role in holding the hearing aid housing in place behind the ear, it is important that they are properly secured to each other. If not, and the two parts detach, there is a major risk of the hearing aid housing falling from its place behind the ear to the ground, with the further risk of it getting ruined or lost.
However, depending on whether a hook or a tube is to be connected to the connecting piece of the hearing aid housing, the connecting piece should have different shapes. The thread used for a securing a hook is not necessarily the best thing for the direct attachment of a tube. In that case a cylindrical piece with a circumferential barb, e.g. at the distal end, might be much more secure and above all convenient.
Making a large number of different hearing aid housings is however not desirable, for reasons of manufacture and storage.